People need to eat a healthy diet. This is true for everyone, including kids, adults and those with congenital heart disease. Children who consume excess calories are at risk for becoming overweight or obese. Being overweight is associated with diabetes, heart disease and other chronic conditions.

Most children with heart disease can play sports. Staying active and playing on a team can enhance a child’s physical fitness, confidence and social development. Sports are good for children whether or not they were born with congenital heart disease (CHD).

Heart defects are common in newborns. About eight out of 1,000 babies born in the U.S. have a congenital heart defect. Parents often learn of the problem following a routine prenatal ultrasound or soon after their baby is born.

When your child visits a pediatric cardiologist you’ll likely hear a lot of medical terms for the first time. Coping with so much new information can be overwhelming. We often use this blog to explain common practices of a children’s heart doctor.

Some children are born with a hole in their heart called atrial septal defect. ASD can be repaired, though not all children require treatment. Treatments vary depending on the type defect, a child’s age and health.

James Kyser is the first surgeon in Oregon to perform on a child the Edwards SAPIEN XT transcatheter heart valve procedure. Dr. Kyser is a cardiologist at Pediatric Cardiology Center of Oregon (PCCO). He completed the procedure on June 13, 2016 at the Randall Children’s Hospital.

The minimally invasive procedure is for patients who need a pulmonic valve replacement. With the SAPIEN XT valve, Dr. Kyser can treat patients without open heart surgery. Patients typically return home the same day or the day after the procedure.

Families and physicians often wonder what the terms“intraventricular conduction delay” (IVCD) or “incomplete right bundle branch block” (IRBBB) or “rsR’” on an electrocardiogram mean and what to do with the information.

Electrocardiograms (abbreviated as “ECG” or “EKG”) are routinely done and best suited to the evaluation of heart rhythm, but we can sometimes infer potential heart disease or issues such as chamber enlargement or heart malformations from looking at the electrocardiogram, but the problem with this is that there are many false positives (that is, the EKG is abnormal but the patient’s heart is actually normal).

Serious congenital heart defects in infants are often diagnosed during pregnancy or soon after birth. Doctors may find a minor defect later in a child’s life, sometimes during a routine physical exam. If a pediatrician suspects a problem with a child’s heart, he or she may order diagnostic tests or refer the child to a pediatric cardiologist.

What Is a Congenital Heart Defect?

Congenital defects are abnormalities in the heart’s structure at or before birth. There are different types of defects, any of which may change the flow of blood through the heart.

Some defects are simple, have no symptoms and don’t need treatment. Others may require surgery to correct the problem. Heart defects are relatively common. Eight out of every 1,000 babies in the U.S. are born with heart problems according to the National Institutes of Health.

Has your doctor recommended a cardiac MRI for you or your child? An MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, is a diagnostic tool used in various disciplines of medicine including pediatric cardiology.

What Can a Cardiac MRI Find?

An MRI creates a series of images showing the interior of the heart at different points in the pump cycle. The technology works with magnets and radio waves. Scans give doctors a picture of a patient’s anatomy. Conditions that may be detected by an MRI include congenital heart disease, heart muscle disease and coronary artery disease.